Gravity
by Ravenfire385
Summary: Silence Knox is being tested by the government. How hard will they have to push him to achieve insanity? Can the Cullens save him? Really cliched summary, I know.
1. Chapter 1

Gravity

"Please…" a choked-back moan of pain. "Just kill me now…death is nothing compared to this!" Blood pools under a person lashed to a steel table. There are four inhales of breath, interrupting the pleading of a dying man.

"Just a taste…just one!" a crack of flesh on stone.

"That would ruin all our fun, Peter. Surely you have learned restraint? Soon, though. He will give in soon. It's only a matter of time."

"And when he does? What use is a corpse to us?" A scream of agony, and they laugh. There's a revolting crack, and a yell.

"Who said we were going to kill him? Why not leave him somewhere? So his dear family can find him…?" Muddy brown eyes widen in anticipation and glee. "Yes…let his family see what has become of the once proud Silence." The figure on the table spits a mouthful blood, hitting the speaker on the cheek.

"My bones can…break or crumble…" Silence chokes out, quoting a song, "I will never…slip or stumble." The man sneers, wiping the blood off his face.

"How…touching." Drawing back his hand, he backhands Silence sharply, slicing his cheek open. A loud banging interrupts Silence's moan of pain.

"Police! Open up!" the four figures flee, leaving the teen pinned to the table by way of chains and ropes. The door bursts open four seconds later, and six armed policemen flood in.

"S-someone get an EMT in here!" the leader shouts, his voice cracking. Silence feels tears trickling down his face in relief. He's finally safe…

-----------------Two Weeks Later-----------------

Silence wept, tangling his hands in his jaw-length hair. Everyone in the Knox line was dead. They had been killed in a bombing during a family reunion. It was a Knox tradition that _everyone_ was at the reunion, since they happened so rarely. Now Silence was the last one left.

He shook off the nurses' hands, limping painfully into the lightly drizzling rain in Portland, Oregon. Pine and birch trees rose high above him. Silence loosed a scream of anger and sorrow, slamming his hands against the wooden railing. His cuts contorted horribly, twisting his face into a parody of his former self. The rain started coming down harder and harder, until lightning crashed above him. Silence lost himself in the storm.

"Silence." A man dressed in black jeans and a blue shirt stood in the doorway, a flannel blanket in his hands. Silence realized he was shivering badly. He allowed the man to approach and drape him in the blanket. "Michael Keys."

"I'm 18." Silence stated dully as Michael sat down next to him. "I don't need a guardian."

"I'm not here to be your guardian, kid. I'm here to inform you of your family's wills. After you got captured, they all changed. You are the sole inheritor of everything your family owned. Business shares have been sold and the houses are all up for sale. This sound okay?" Silence nodded mutely.

"Did you recover anything from the bomb site?" his voice cracked audibly. He swallowed. Michael set a bag in front of the teen.

"We tried to find one thing from every person, and we did, for the most part. Your entire neighbourhood turned out to help." Silence reached into the bag and pulled out the first item: a green journal bound with blue ribbon- his sister's. It was set to the side. The next few items were similar- his uncle's watch, grandfather's pipe, cousin's earring. The list went on and on. Finally, Silence pulled out and stared at his parents' weddings rings. They had been strung on an elegant silver chain. Everything was blackened and a little charred.

"Mr. Keys, would you be able to purchase a house for me? Something close to here, not too sunny…" the man smiled. Silence continued, "…small population, preferably."

"I know just the place. It's about a half an hour flight, with a population of just over three thousand. Forks, Washington. I will start looking for houses immediately. Size, location?"

"I don't care how big. Choose something on the edge of town, if you can." Michael nodded.

-----------------2 Months Later-----------------

Michael burst into Silence's room, waving a handful of papers in the air. Silence whipped around, shirt in hand. His chest and back were littered with healing cuts and bruises. He yanked on his shirt before taking the papers from his friends. Michael, at 28, was 10 years older than Silence, but still very good friends with him.

"We got the perfect house for you. The old owner left it furnished and everything. They're asking fifteen thousand for it, which won't make a dent in your savings. You can move in whenever. I checked you out from the hospital, and scheduled a flight for two-thirty. You'll be in Forks by three-thirty." Silence gaped.

"E-excellent." He squeaked out, glancing at the clock. It was noon now, and the airport was ten minutes away. "What about clothes, transportation…?"

"One of my friends found your sizes, and…uh…went a little crazy with the whole clothes situation. You got a hefty discount, though! Somewhere around forty percent, methinks, because of your popularity. For transportation, I took the liberty of getting you a Harley motorcycle and a compact Lexus. You're set, and you still have enough money to retire now. You could live comfortably without working for around two hundred years, if I got the numbers right." Silence picked his jaw up from the floor.

"What about school?" he asked reluctantly, knowing it was necessary. Michael grinned.

"You're set to start attending Forks High School the day after tomorrow. I have a map, schedule, and books for you." Silence sighed and started pitching things into a backpack.

-----------------Four Hours Later-----------------

"Wow…" Silence breathed, staring at the house in awe. It was a beautiful two-story house painted in green and white.

"Five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, and three other rooms to do with as you will. No useable basement, I'm afraid." Silence nodded, striding into the house. He examined each room thoroughly before settling in the master bedroom. There was a balcony looking over the forest, and large windows. Each bedroom had a walk-in closet, where Silence found all of his clothes neatly folded and hung.

"I'll leave you to get settled. School starts at eight, okay? Do what you can. By the way, there's a surprise in the backyard, waiting for you…" Silence flew down the stairs and out onto the lawn. There, in a paddock, was a beautiful Egyptian Arabian mare. Her black coat shone in the rare sunlight, dark eyes regarding him intelligently.

"Auset!" Silence vaulted the fence to meet his horse. Silence had learned to ride when he was five, and his mother had bought Auset two years ago. She was five now. Grabbing Auset's halter, he led his horse inside the tiny stable that had apparently been built in a month. Ignoring the saddle, Silence traded the halter for a bridle, clipped his helmet on, and clambered astride his horse. Auset was trained in everything from trail-blazing to dressage.

They cantered through heavy underbrush, over fallen logs, and through streams. Everything was going quite smoothly until a loud rustle caused Auset to spook, throwing Silence off balance. When the mare tripped over a root, the teen toppled off.

"Easy, Auset. Easy." He soothed, voice thin and wavering. She stood quivering, eyes rolling. A loud crash sent Auset bolting toward the house, leaving him stranded. Silence pulled himself upright, thankful for his helmet. Instead of a cracked skull, he only had a raging headache and a stomach-ache. From the warmth trickling down his face, Silence knew one of his cuts had cracked open.

"Excuse me…" a girl popped into his line of sight, making Silence jump. A brawny, muscular teen was behind her, looking rather apologetic. "I'm Alice Cullen, and this is my brother, Emmett. We saw you fall. Are you okay?" his brain took a minute to process her words, and Alice nodded. "Our father's a doctor. We live close- maybe you should stop in, just to make sure." Before he could nod, Emmett had him on his back. Silence's head spun sickeningly. He rested it on the brawny teen's shoulder, only to be jostled alarmingly.

"Don't fall asleep, cowboy. You probably have a concussion." Before Silence knew it, Emmett was letting him down on a white leather couch. He squirmed uncomfortably at the dirt working itself into the clean hide.

"You're new here, right?" Alice queried. Silence realised he had been drifting off. His tongue felt thick in his mouth as he replied.

"Yah." He muttered, fumbling with the buckle on his riding helmet. "Just got in this afternoon."

"Where are your parents?" Silence wiped a trickle of blood off the side of his neck, smearing it on his jeans without looking at it. He didn't notice Alice watching his movements attentively.

"Dead." He growled, resting his head on the back of the sofa. "My entire bloodline was killed in a bombing about two weeks ago." He held up the silver chain with the rings on it from around his neck. The front door chose that moment to unlatch itself, revealing a thirty or so year old man with white-blonde hair and hazel eyes. He still wore his white lab coat.

"Hello. I didn't expect you back so soon…" the man said warmly, setting his kit by the sofa. He looked at his children questioningly.

"It wasn't as bad of a walk as we thought, Carlisle." Alice explained, smiling. Silence finally unclipped his helmet, setting it on his lap. Carlisle, moving slowly and deliberately, tilted Silence's head this way and that, looking at his pupils and checking their dilation. When Carlisle touched the knot on the back of Silence's head, the teen flinched out of his grasp. All he could think of was his captors, purposely inflicting pain.

"Easy there!" Carlisle soothed, brushing the lump. "That'll be tender for a while, yet. You do, however, have a nasty concussion. Do you have a guardian or parent I could contact?" Silence shook his head slowly.

"They were killed two weeks ago." The teen repeated, trying to stop the pounding in his head. He rested his head in his hands, missing the look Alice traded with Carlisle. When Silence looked up, he noticed the awkward silence. "I-I should get home and make sure Auset's alright."

"Someone should go with you…" Carlisle said, helping him to his feet. Silence glared, but the effect was ruined as he nearly fell over. Carlisle steadied him. At the doctor's look, Silence reluctantly agreed. "Fine."

Fifteen minutes later, Silence was settled in the backseat of a massive Jeep. Emmett was taking directions from Alice, who had looked up the way to Silence's house. Alice chattered happily the whole way there, talking about her family, school, and everything in between. Silence drifted in and out of the conversation, answering only direct questions. They pulled up to the house, Silence leaning heavily on Emmett. He led them to the backyard, following the prints set deeply in the mud.

"Auset!" Silence called, staggering toward the paddock. The mare stood in the middle of the area, watching his escorts warily. He reached out, running a hand along her neck. She was covered in mud. "We should clean you up, I think." Silence stated, half to himself. Shifting his weight from Emmett to his mare, the group moved toward the stable slowly.

Silence's head pounded. He knew he should lie down, but couldn't bring himself to leave Auset full of mud like this. He traded bridle for halter, grabbing a handful of towels. Tossing one to each of his escorts, he bit out, "Wipe the mud off her, please. I need to check for injuries." Silence gently scrubbed the caked mud off Auset's legs, checking each for swellings, cuts, or abrasions. It was a slow process. As he worked, Silence noticed that Alice and Emmett both seemed rather tense.

"If the smell bothers you, you can leave." He snapped, surprising the pair with his anger. They shook their heads and stayed, continuing their work. Silence moved onto Auset's hooves, picking twigs, mud, and gravel out of each. When he touched her right hoof, he moved to examine it closer. A large stone was wedged in her hoof.

Biting his lip in sympathy, Silence picked at the stone. Auset winced every time he touched it. After several minutes of fighting with the mare, the stone fell to the floor with a _chink_. He picked it up and tossed it out the door. Silence combed out her mane and tail, gave her grain, and pulled off her halter. Emmett supported him up to the house while Alice closed the stable doors. The teen struggled up the stairs and into his bathroom. He gulped two painkillers, then staggered drunkenly to his bed. He never noticed his shoes and muddy clothes being removed, nor being tucked into his queen-sized bed.


	2. Chapter 2

-----------------Floating City, Pacific Ocean-----------------

'Salvatore Maroni slid his identification card through the scanner. Pressurized doors hissed open as he walked through. Then, all of a sudden, Batman swooped down from the ceiling, croquet mallet in hand. He swung, knocking the villain unconscious. As Maroni lay there, the Joker emerged. With a bird-like movement, he cocked his head to look at the downed man.'

The security guard looked up from his book as Michael Keys stopped in front of him. He waved Keys through, going back to his book. A burst of laughter followed Michael down the hallway. He continued walking, pausing when he heard his name.

"…Keys is the turning point! He's gonna be the reason this project works!"

"What project?"

"Project X4692? Silence of the Forgotten? Ring any bells?"

"Uh…oh yeah! The one with the Knox kid!" a sound of flesh on flesh, and Michael know the first man had face-palmed. "So…what did Keys do again?"

"You moron! He shipped the crates to the police." Michael knew he should keep moving and did so, missing the next phrase. "They're drugging the dogs tonight. No one will know the difference."

-----------------With Silence-----------------

Silence was pissed. Okay, he was beyond pissed. Alice fucking Cullen wouldn't let him sleep for more than two hours without waking him! He had been woken five times. Five! When heard dogs baying madly however, he paused.

"What's going on?" he muttered, getting out of bed and pulling on a pair of jeans. Creeping downstairs, Silence avoided his 'guards', who were resting on the couches. Once outside, he took off at a dead run to the stable. He had to make sure Auset was okay! Silence stopped dead. The stable door was wide open, and Silence could hear a massive commotion from inside. He reached down and found a thick stick with which to arm himself.

Charging into the stable, Silence began beating the bloodthirsty dogs off his horse. There were at least six of them, all over Auset! Blood stained the straw on the ground, turning it a sickly red colour. Each dog fell to blows fuelled by anger and desperation.

"Get off her, you bastards!" Silence screamed, tears falling down his cheeks in a hot wave. The dogs dealt with, he moved back to his horse, grabbing wraps and towels on the way. Numbly, he started tying them around the wounds. Auset whickered- a horrible, wet sound. Silence broke into harsh sobs as he reached her head.

The dogs had torn deep into her throat. Silence was surprised she was even still alive. Auset nudged his hand weakly. Silence sobbed, pressing a towel to her throat. He settled her head in his lap, stroking her head and neck soothingly.

"Baba yetu, yetu uliye. Mbinguni yetu, yetu amina, baba yetu, yetu uliye mgina lako elitukuzwe…" his voice cracked as he sang. "You can let go, baby. It's okay. I'm right here. I'll always be here. Just let go." Auset whickered weakly, nudged his hand again, and lay still. Her dark eyes never lost their kindness or love as they dimmed and grew dark. Silence wept, singing the Lord's Prayer to his horse. Two pairs of golden eyes watched from a dark corner, and they gripped hands- as if to comfort themselves.

Silence was rocking back and forth, stroking his horse and alternating between singing and pleading when they found him. His hands were caked with blood, but he didn't seem to care.

"Why did you leave me? You weren't supposed to leave me!" he whispered brokenly, too tired to cry anymore. When two arms wrapped around him, Silence flinched, trying to dislodge them. They vanished a moment later, to be replaced by a hand on his shoulder.

"Kid, come on. She's not coming back. There's nothing you can do." Silence shook his head, gripping Auset tighter. Cold hands were unwinding his arms from the horse with unyielding strength. Silence fought.

"No!" he burst out, new tears falling down his face. His voice cracked. "I promised I'd never leave her!" Michael pinned Silence's arms to his sides and hauled the bony teen backwards. Emmett and two other men Silence didn't recognize dragged Auset to the middle of the tiny stable. Alice stepped forward and pulled a large handful of hairs from Auset's tail. Michael continued to pull Silence backwards, out of the barn and down the path. When the support beams were toppled, the stable collapsed on top of the mare's body. Emmett lit a match, and soon the whole thing was engulfed in flames. Silence's screams tore through the woods and split the sky. Thunder rumbled, and the sky wept.

Silence collapsed, a hypodermic needle protruding from his bare back. Carlisle pulled it out and capped it sadly. Michael hoisted Silence higher in his arms, leading the way back to the house. He was trailed by the Cullen family in a sombre line. Emmett opened his mouth, but closed it as an elbow met his ribs forcefully.

Michael laid Silence on his bed, tugging the blankets around him. The blood was washed off with a wet cloth. Michael turned to the Cullens, who were gathered in the doorway. He nodded to them, and they filtered out. Alice stayed behind.

-----------------45 Minutes Later-----------------

Silence glared at his alarm clock. His wishes for it to spontaneously combust were ignored. Cursing, Silence dragged himself out of bed and into his spacious shower. Seven minutes later, Silence emerged, dressed in black slacks and a royal blue silk shirt.

He downed three painkillers, packed his bag, and entered the garage. His new silver Lexus sat there, nice and shiny. Silence slid in, plopping his back next to him. He tore out of the garage, revelling in the speed.

Fifteen minutes after he had started his car, Silence pulled into a parking spot next to a silver Volvo. They were the nicest cars in the lot, Silence noted. All the others were old and beat up. Kids looked up as he got out, then started whispering madly. The new teen dropped his bag by the front wheel, locking the car and checking the door. He moved to retrieve his bag, but found a _very_ stupid girl holding it out for him.

"I'm Jessica. You're Silence, right? Silence Knox?"

"Funny how you know my name. I don't think I introduced myself." Silence sneered, grabbing his bag and stalking off. Jessica followed.

"Silly! You're all over the news! How your entire family was killed right after you got rescued…you must miss them so much!" she simpered, latching onto Silence. He stiffened, yanking away violently.

"Don't touch me, you nasty girl. You don't know anything." She looked affronted, then said, "I know you're bitter about your family's death, but you don't need to take it out on me. I didn't kill them!" Silence clenched his jaw in fury.

"I have to get to class." He ground out, moving toward the front office. Large crowds parted for him, whispers trailing him like smoke.

"He's so hot…like, in a dangerous way."

"I heard he went mad and killed his whole family."

"Do you think he'd go to prom with me if I asked?" Silence swept into the office. The secretary looked up.

"Silence Knox. Would you happen to have my schedule?" the secretary handed it over with a simple 'here you go'. Silence was glad for the lack of fawning. He looked over the schedule quickly.

'Hm…AP Calculus, then US History, followed by French. English then lunch, then Latin. Biology, then Gym. Joy. How am I taking a class the school doesn't even offer? Why don't they offer AP Calculus, anyway?" Suddenly, a memory of Auset rose and Silence reeled, pushing it back into a padlocked room in the depths of his mind. He scooped up his bag, thanked the secretary, and walked out. Glancing at his map, Silence made his way to the classroom marked on his schedule. The classroom looked abandoned. Silence sat down, pulled out his AP Calculus book, and began reading. Five minutes later, a girl strode in. She had curly, light blonde hair.

"Rosalie Hale. You must be Silence." Silence nodded. Rosalie had a rather snooty look to her, but Silence knew she wasn't trying to be. Rather, she was being very nice by not gaping.

"Any relation to Carlisle Cullen? You look alike." She nodded warily.

"Carlisle is my adoptive father. Alice and Emmett are my siblings." She changed the subject rather abruptly. "Have you taken AP Calculus before?"

"Yeah. Before I got…taken, I was the head of my class." Silence said, looking away. Rosalie's gaze softened.

"Do you remember how far you got?" she inquired gently. He flipped through the book, then slammed it closed.

"Further than the book covers. This is stupid." He pushed the book away, and Rosalie smiled gently.

"We don't have to cover AP Calculus. I'd rather have a study hall than go back to Calculus. We can use it as a study hall, but look like we're working on Calculus if a teacher comes in." for the first time in three months, smiled. Rosalie returned the gesture, and they both sat down.

Silence pulled out a notebook full of composing paper after putting his textbook away. A pencil was produced, and Silence zoned. Rosalie watched as he seemed to enter a trance, hand zooming over the paper. She was reminded of Alice during Art, if she had a pencil in her hand. Alice would sketch what she was thinking of, often resulting in odd pictures. When the bell rang loudly forty-five minutes later, Silence jumped. Packing up, he offered Rosalie a quick thank you.

The next three classes seemed to follow a pattern: Silence would introduce himself, the teacher would call roll, then the students would be too busy staring at him to pay attention. By lunch, Silence was ready to punch the next person that stared at him. He walked into the cafeteria to find almost everyone staring avidly at him. Clenching his fists, Silence moved for the line, but it parted for him. Quickly he purchased a salad and water, moving to an empty table.

Talk started gradually after he started picking at the limp greens. Silence groaned, his head in his hands. It felt as though small men were pounding on it with hammers, spots dancing in front of his eyes. A hand met with the back of his throbbing skull. Silence whirled, snarling. He was _no_ mood to deal with jocks! One stood there anyway.

"You're Silence, huh? Is it true someone paid your family three million dollars to hand you over? Aren't families supposed to love each other? Bet they got pissed when you escaped…you killed 'em, right? When you found out?" Silence lunged at the jock, but a hand on his shoulder held him back.

"Go smoke weed, Jared. Leave him alone." Emmett growled. The rest of the Cullens joined Silence and Emmett at their table, setting identical trays of food down. Jared ran. Emmett turned to Silence. "You okay?" Silence nodded slowly, relaxing under the bigger boy's cold touch. "That was Jared Letterman."

"You shouldn't be at school, Leo." Alice said, brushing his hair from his eyes.

"I'm fine." Silence muttered, ignoring the nickname. "It wouldn't be right to miss the first day of school." His head swam, and he said down hard. A pale hand pushed his water in front of him, already opened, along with two pills.

"Take them." One of the unknown Cullen brothers advised. "Carlisle told us you'd probably be at school today. Bet you're in a lot of pain right now…"

"He also said that if you were at school, to inform you he's coming to your house at 4:15 to make sure you're settled and not faking fine." Silence bristled, but a look from both Alice and Rosalie had him swallowing the pills and gulping down half the water hurriedly. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, after all…

"By the way," Emmett said, "That's Jasper." He indicated the first boy. "And he's Edward." Silence nodded, then got to his feet.

"I have Latin next." He muttered. Alice looked delighted. She led him to the classroom, where he introduced himself to the teacher. Ten minutes later, he was being escorted by Alice to the principal.

~*~*~*~

_Silence flicked through the book, trying to remember how to speak Latin. It had been a very long time since he had spoken it. Suddenly, there were two hands on his desk- Jared's. The jock leaned forward, breath reeking of drugs._

"_You never answered my question, Knox. Did you kill your family, after you got loose? Did you feel betra-" he broke off, then howled in pain._

_Silence had stabbed a pencil clear through Jared's hand, pinning it to the table. Bitter ice-blue eyes seemed to x-ray Jared's soul, and found it wanting._

"_You disgust me, Jared Letterman." Silence growled in absolutely flawless Latin, then yanked the pencil out with a squelch. "By the way- I never screamed." He extended his left hand, and Jared saw with a whimper, three puckered holes in Silence's hand._

~*~*~*~

Silence had wormed his way out of punishment, explaining he had experienced a memory flashback. In thinking Jared was one of his tormenters, had stabbed him to try and get away. By the time the issue had been settled, Latin was over. Biology never happened- the teacher was out sick. They received a packet and were expected to finish it. Silence took it for homework. Gym was an easy class. He sat out, watching the class play volleyball. Silence hoped they played soccer soon- he was amazing at it!


End file.
